Fairy Tail doesn't belong to me and none of the characters either, sadly. AND THE PLOT BELONGS TO WRITER4EVERR. I ASKED HER IF I COULD USE THIS PLOT AND SHE SAID YES!

Before I start, I just wanted to share with all of you I saw the cutest animation by famous Disney animator Glen Keane. It really made my day. Look it up and watch! It's amazing and just adorable! It's called Duet by Glen Keane. WATCH IT. And tell me what you all think. I thought it was simply beautiful and touching.

Anyway... Enjoy! :)

The Bride of the Ice God

Chapter Four

After that terrifying moment of realization, I had tried to avoid Gray...er Lord Gray for the rest of the day, which proved to be a lot easier than I initially thought. The palace was ridiculously large and had several floors and rooms, which just made it easy to hide from an angry Ice God. Lisanna accompanied me throughout my one-sided game of hide-and-seek; she flitted around me, occasionally telling me not to enter a passageway here and there and then guiding me safely down the confusing flights of stairs that seemed to randomly appear. I questioned Lisanna about the magical staircases, but she only laughed and said that I would get used to them over time. In response, I just grimly looked at her.

At one point while meandering throughout the – what was it? – the eleventh floor, I asked Lisanna curiously, "You said your sister became the Goddess of Death, but I would think there would have been one before her."

"Yes," Lisanna answered. "Emperor Zeref was the God of Death, but he passed the position to my sister. Another thing was that he became bonded to Empress Mavis, Goddess of Life, so he had to give it up anyway because he became Emperor. He is now the God of Judgement."

I raised a brow at her. "Why did he give it up?"

"It made him miserable," Lisanna explained. "He had a hard time controlling his chaotic powers and would accidentally wipe out cities and towns with plague or some sort of destruction. It was when Mira became bonded, which upped her status from handmaiden to goddess that Zeref and Mavis decided to give the job to her. My sister is kind and merciful to those who have outlived their lives. She also has the heart to send people to their afterlives. Most importantly, she has control."

I could only smile to see how proud Lisanna was of Lady Mira...er Mira, I mean.

"When did this all happen?"

Lisanna laughed. "Oh, a long time ago. Zeref became Emperor way before Mira, I mean, Lady Mira bonded, so he held onto the position of being the Death God loosely until someone suitable could take it. That just happened to be a long while later when my sister became bonded."

"What about Ultear? Is she bonded?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Once again, not really in my place to say," Lisanna said in a whisper, "but she is bonded to Siegrain Fernandes."

"Oh," I said, recognizing that name the shaman of Hargeon always talked about. "One of the Twin Gods of Space?"

"Correct," Lisanna nodded.

"They don't seem to have a really good relationship with each other," I commented.

Lisanna hummed. "You mean Lord Gray and Lady Ultear?"

"Yes."

She chuckled cutely. "It does seem that way, doesn't it? In truth, they are very close to each other because they only have each other left from their family. They just do not like to show it publicly, or rather, Lord Gray doesn't like to show it. It actually took him time to warm up to her when he first became the Ice God because they are half-siblings. Now, it's all right. They just have different views on...mortals..."

I winced and fiddled with the sleeve of my kimono in slight discomfort at that. I cleared my throat. "So they had the same mother or...?"

"Apparently, I'm going to be here for eternity, so why not?" I suggested.

"True enough, and you deserve to know since you are Lord Gray's bride and bonding mate."

I wasn't used to that. Just thinking of the words bonding, mate, and bride made me blush and extremely nervous and shy. I chewed on my bottom lip and casted my eyes to the ground. I heard Lisanna giggle, and I could only cover my face with my hands and slightly groan at the world.

We entered the library where I first met Ultear and Mira. This time it was empty, and it was only the two of us. We were lucky we didn't have to face those creepy sphinxes. Apparently, they were on break or something. I suddenly imagined the two obsidian sphinxes horsing around and trying to catch a mouse while bantering to each other in rhymes. An amused smile graced my lips.

I followed Lisanna to a comfortable table, and we sat ourselves down. We had a nice view of the palace grounds from the window, and I couldn't help but admire how beautiful everything was.

Lisanna giggled. "I know, very pretty, isn't it?"

I could only hum in response as the setting sun illuminated the palace with an array of various colors. It made the palace glitter in a sort of way.

My eyes widened in realization. "It's already the end of the day?"

Lisanna could only laugh. "Yes, Lady Lucy. You spent most of your time trying to hide yourself from Lord Gray. You were most focused, and you were also distracted by the beauty of the palace."

I only blushed in response.

"My goodness, you're just so adorable," Lisanna gushed. "You're such a contrast to Lord Gray that I can't help but see you both as a perfect couple."

"Hey, now," I said. "Let's not get too ahead..."

"Right," Lisanna said with a smile. "Now, more about Lord Gray..."

I repositioned myself in my chair more comfortably and zoned in on Lisanna.

"Oh no!" I said. "That's all right. You don't have to go too into detail or anything if that makes you feel better."

Lisanna gave a strained smile. "It's all right. You should know." She cleared her throat. "Well, his father was a demon and wasn't thought too highly in the realm of the gods. Silver is...er was his name. Before Lord Gray was even born, Lady Ur was the Goddess of Ice. She and Silver fell in love, yet they were not bonded, and he was a demon anyway, so they had a bastard child..."

"Ultear?" I guessed in a whisper.

The white-haired handmaiden simply nodded. "As punishment, Lady Ur was banished to Earth to live amongst the mortals. Her powers and immortality as a goddess were not stripped because there was no one suitable to take her position. She left Ultear in the care of the Empress as a final wish and prayed to her that she would not be treated harshly." Lisanna smiled. "Her wish was fulfilled, and Ultear successfully became the Goddess of Time. Ur left and was never heard or seen from again for centuries. As for Silver, well, he...he went back to where he came from."

"But some time later, a mortal caught his eye, and he went to see her in the mortal world. Rare as it might be, the demon and mortal bonded upon first touch. Her name was Mika, I believe."

"Gray's mother?" I asked.

"Yes," Lisanna nodded with a sad smile. "I heard she was such a kind and compassionate lady." She looked out the window almost like she were searching for something. It was as if she became distant and was lost in memories of the past. "Anyway, they had Gray, but their happiness did not last long. Because of Silver's affiliation with Tartarus, they sent a demon to kill him and his family. They can't stand traitors."

"Traitor?" Lucy whispered.

"I believe they were angry Silver left them, for a human nonetheless. They also didn't want to risk any information leaking out about them because of him," Lisanna replied in the same tone. "So, Deliora, one of the many demons in Tartarus, killed Silver and Mika, but Lord Gray survived."

"How...?"

"Lady Ur appeared and killed it." Lisanna smiled softly. "That's when she found Lord Gray, who was only seven at the time, and apparently, her powers at that moment were transferred to him even though he was half-demon, half-human. Her powers that transferred to him killed his humanity, but in return gave him immortality and enhanced his ice powers he inherited from his father since he was an ice demon. Thus, Lord Gray became the God of Ice, and the most powerful one at that."

Lucy cast her eyes down to the ground.

"And with what little time Lady Ur had left," Lisanna continued, "she taught him everything she knew in a village somewhere where the mountains touched the sky. But because of what they were, Lord Gray and Ur were driven to isolation up in the mountains because the mortals treated them terribly. In the end, they weren't to blame because they were scared of the desolation Deliora had caused, but Lord Gray was half-demon and half-god, so they couldn't help but fear him as well. Can you now understand why Lord Gray is hesitant to be happy about his bonding?" Lisanna finally asked softly.

"He's scared, he's angry, he's confused," I said quietly.

"Yes." Lisanna gave a tiny smile. "His mother, being human, brought misfortune. And yes, the hatred he felt from humans because of what he was, and the fact they killed his mentor, Ur. Since she was no longer immortal, she perished. I can't imagine how he is feeling right now since everything he feels toward humans must be disregarded when it comes to you because you are his and he is yours."

No, was the first thought that entered my mind. I was not his, and he was not mine. I just wanted to go home, go back to the normal life that I had with my parents. I wondered how my mother was doing with her sickness. I wondered how my father was coping. I wondered if they would be okay. Yet...guilt overwhelmed me when I heard Gray's story. I couldn't say anything; I was speechless. I realized I would have to apologize and ask for forgiveness, that is, if my stubbornness didn't get in the way. But...in the end, I was mortal, so I shouldn't even be here.

"All of this just gives me the more reason to leave," I murmured.

"It's been a millennium, Lady Lucy," Lisanna said. "He just needs time to think."

"If you say so..." I sighed.

Lisanna stood up from the comfy chair in the library. She looked outside the window, and I followed her gaze. The first thing I noticed was it was dark outside, meaning only one thing.

Bedtime.

"It's best I take you back to Lord Gray's room, Lady Lucy," Lisanna suggested with a warm, encouraging smile.

"No, no, really! It's all right!" I waved my hands and shook my head.

But the pretty handmaiden wouldn't take no for an answer and practically had to forcibly drag me through the palace to Gray's room. I was slowly dying on the inside because it wasn't as simple as moving far away as I could and staying frozen on the pillow until morning. It was hard for me to fall asleep. I was a night person. Back at home, I would sometime go outside down to the port and sit on a pier and just gaze at the numerous stars up in the sky that seemed to call my name. I would close my eyes and let the soft Hargeon breeze sway my hair and caress my face, and I would remember how I would sit there with my mother countless nights as she taught me the story of the stars and names of constellations. Thing was, I wasn't home. I was going to be in a god's bed.

Lisanna guided me to a shower where she bathed me in a relaxing hot spring, but I was tense the entire time and kept looking around me cautiously. She tried to soothe me, but it did nothing for my nerves. Out of annoyance or tiredness, maybe even both, Lisanna sighed.

"I'll be right back."

I was left in the bathtub to my own thought, which I did not appreciate. I felt like a caged animal: restless, cautious, unsure, etc. The hot spring really should have done wonders, but there was no way I would be able to relax. Being in a god's bed was one thing, but it was also because I knew too much about him while he knew nothing of me. It hardly seemed fair and made me uncomfortable. The one thing I was most worried about was even moving. Holy shit, like, I hope he wouldn't kill me before I slipped to the library or garden or whatever.

"Here, take this."

My eyes snapped to Lisanna to see she was holding a cup of...tea? She handed it to me. I glanced at her speculatively then stared into the contents of the elaborately decorated tea cup. The scent of chamomile and rosemary wafted into my nose. I smiled, feeling myself relax, even if it was only a smidgen.

"Thank you," I said sincerely, knowing she was trying to help me.

She nodded with a tiny smile of her own.

Once I finished the cup of tea, I was going to start washing my hair when she attacked me with a sponge. I yelped as she started vigorously washing my body and my hair. I whined, saying I could do it myself, but she kept saying it was her duty to prepare me.

"But, it's not like it's my wedding night," I protested weakly.

Lisanna chuckled. "Who knows!"

My cheeks burned. "Lisanna!"

Some time later, she dressed me in a lighter more comfortable form of a kimono called a nemaki. It was a nice shade of lavender with a white petal pattern on it. My hair was simply let down and cascaded down my back, settling at my hips. I looked at myself, turning this way and that, appreciating how snuggly and comfily it fit on me.

I nodded and followed Lisanna to Gray's room. We rushed along until we came face to face with Gray's quarters. The double doors were huge and had me intimidated just by looking up at them. I gulped softly. Lisanna placed a hand on my back to comfort me.

"It'll be all right," she whispered reassuringly. "Really, Lord Gray isn't that bad at all. Maybe a little cold sometimes, but...you'll be just fine."

She opened the door for me. I nodded in thanks before entering. I immediately shivered, surprised at the sudden chill in the air despite the summer weather in the realm of the gods. I noticed Gray was not here as I hugged myself and rubbed my arms. I looked around the room, impressed. The room was vast. It was so spacious that I felt there was missing furniture. I nearly fainted when I saw there was a huge king-sized bed; it had navy blue satin sheets and pillows. There were a few bookcases filled with various sizes and genres of books (obviously), and in between the large bookcases was a desk with paperwork and several other seemingly important documents that I knew I shouldn't mess with. But guess what I did? Yup, I went over there and looked at his stuff. I couldn't help it: I was curious.

It was boring, really. Nothing exciting or confidential as I thought it would be here in the land of the gods. It was just menial stuff to keep the palace running smoothly and letters being sent to other palaces. He had a detail scheduled of the winter, and it looked like he was about to write a letter before he was probably interrupted by something. I felt my throat suddenly dry when I saw Hargeon written on a piece of paper underneath the letter. I slipped it from under the letter.

Gray,

I beg you to please unfreeze the Hargeon Sea. Too many civilians, especially children, are dying. Their crops are being frozen over, and they have no chance of surviving any longer if you keep this up. Violence and corruption has spread through the town. I was shocked to see it was a harsher winter then normal, but it never ceased when it should have been spring or summer. I know that you we gods can get in moods but wiping a village is unprecedented and uncalled for. I know Juvia loves you, but she is upset at how much sea life you have destroyed. It has been raining nonstop in Oak Town, Clover Town, Shirotsume, Oshibana, and several others. As Empress, I demand you to fix this immediately. As the Goddess of Life, I beg you not to let anything or anyone perish.

Empress Mavis

My body was trembling. I only knew that much. I didn't enough time to decipher all the mess of emotions I felt because I heard voices and footsteps outside. I wouldn't have moved if it weren't for the fact that the mark on my hand was tingling. I briskly out everything back to where it was on Gray's desk and made my way toward the large bed and slipped under the satin covers on the left side of the bed closest to the balcony doors. I shut my eyes and curled into a ball and refused to let tears slip from my eyes. The adrenaline had my heart thunderously beating in my chest. I could hear it in my ears. The problem was I couldn't settle down. Not with what I just read.

The doors opened, and I heard Natsu quite well.

"You need to hurry up and send that letter to the Empress," he said.

I could almost feel Gray glare at him. "Of course," he replied dryly. "I would've finished and sent it by now if I wasn't interrupted by you and Mira calling me for something important, which really just happened to be a twelve-hour course of How to Treat a Mortal Kindly 101."

"No, Natsu," Gray refuted icily. "As a matter of fact, it was completely useless to me as I have neither the intention to woo her nor befriend her in any possible way."

Same here, buddy, I thought sardonically with a frown etched on my face.

Natsu voice suddenly took a serious tone. "Gray, she is your other half, and you are hers. That's the end of it."

"No, it's not. One, she's a mortal. Two, she doesn't even want to be here. Three, there is hardly any chance of her becoming immortal anyway. The damn plant pretty much kills everyone that tries to," Gray reasoned logically.

The Fire God remained silent. There was a tense pause before he sighed and changed the subject. "So what are you going to tell Mavis? Because what you told me seems pretty far-fetched. You're the only one with ice powers here. You are the God of Ice after all."

I raised my brow in surprise at this. Somehow, it made me feel slightly relieved.

"I'm telling you," Gray growled lowly. "It wasn't me. There was no reason for me to freeze the Hargeon into an uninhabitable tundra. I'm not an idiot to get on the Empress's bad side either. The only other possible person who could have done this would be my father or Ur."

"Neither are alive though..."

"I know," Gray snapped. "That's why I already tried to unfreeze it, but I can't because I haven't done anything."

"...Then who?"

Gray sighed tiredly. "I don't know."

Oh my god, I was the only thing that came to my mind. It was a whole misunderstanding! I immediately assumed he was a murderer and everything my hometown went through was his fault when, in fact, it wasn't. My mother always told me to never jump to conclusions because at the end of the day we never know. I almost let out a groan, realizing I would have made a huge fool of myself and made the Ice God even meaner if I accused him head-on.

"Anyway, have fun with your soulmate!" Natsu laughed warmly. It was suddenly interrupted by a sharp cry of pain. "You ice prick, what the hell was that for?!"

"For being an idiot, flame-brain," Gray coolly replied before shutting the door to a very displeased Natsu.

I would have laughed at their childish name-calling because they were centuries old, but I was trying to pretend to be asleep here. I heard Gray sigh, but he suddenly stopped short when he saw me. At least, I thought so because I could feel his intense stare on my still form. If it was even possible, he sighed even harder.

"Great..."

I inadvertently pouted, feeling even worse. I peeked open an eye to see his back was turned to me. He pulled out his chair from the desk and began writing the letter, which I presumed was to Empress Mavis about what he just talked about with Natsu. I closed my eyes again and actually tried to fall asleep despite the futile attempt. I counted sheep for some time before giving up and just concentrating on the scratching of Gray's pen on paper. It wasn't until maybe a good ten to fifteen minutes later when he was done. I once again opened an eye to see he was folding it and putting it in an envelope.

"Jet, Messenger of the Gods, the Ice God beckons you," Gray called out formally.

Out of nowhere, a man with spiky orange hair appeared. He was dressed in a grey kimono that hung loosely on him. I would've gasped at the site of his sandals, but I managed to hold it in. His shoes! They had freaking wings on them! It wasn't just some cool decoration. They literally flapped.

Gray handed him the envelope. "I need you to deliver this to the Empress as soon as possible."

"No problem," Jet replied. "I'm not the fastest god for nothing."

Then, just like that, he disappeared as fast as he came. Gray sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose thinking for a moment before traveling over to his closest. He started stripping of his elaborate kimono and fished out a simple yukata. Guess what color it was? You guessed correctly. Blue. Surprise, surprise.

And suddenly his naked back was revealed to me, and I have never been so impressed. My cheeks were a bright red as I took in his broad shoulders and muscular back. Hot damn, I thought when I saw the muscles in his back and shoulders. I clenched my teeth, rolled over, and shut my eyes tightly, praying I wouldn't do something stupid during my stay here.

I screamed inwardly when I felt the bed give a little. Stupid tradition, I cursed in my mind. Forcing myself to relax was no easy feat, but I was at least able to stabilize my breathing.

"Off," Gray commanded. With his simple command, the lights in his bedroom turned off.

The sheets shuffled, and I assumed he slipped himself under the satin sheets. There was a bit more shuffling for him before he found his comfortable spot. I barely peaked open an eye to see he was at the edge of the bed with his back turned, keeping his distance from me. I had to admit it did hurt for some reason. I mean, I wasn't that bad, was I? ...I just had to remember he didn't like mortals for a reason, and like he said... It really doesn't matter because I wasn't going to stay. On the other, it seemed like everyone else weren't going to allow me to leave.

My eyes opened fully in the darkness. I stared tiredly at his back and raven hair. For some reason, I could tell he wasn't sleeping. Great. There went my opportunity to escape to the balcony to gaze at the stars. I just had to be patient. I tried convincing myself that maybe he would fall asleep soon, but it was a futile attempt. So, I just ended up snuggling deeper into the pillow and sheets and closing my eyes to attempt sleep.

I don't know how long I slept or whatever. All I really remember was I was opening and closing my eyes every now and then because of a nightmare, but every time I opened my eyes, they felt like lead. I couldn't keep them open. When I tried, they would just close anyway. One thing I remembered from that particular night was one of the few times I opened my eyes, I saw his midnight blue eyes narrowed at me. They held a sense of detachment yet also something akin to...fascination.

Probably thinking I wouldn't possibly hear him or remember any of this, he whispered to me, "You can't be her..."

I gladly let the darkness of sleep take me. The stars would have to wait for another time.

So...I tried to put this up yesterday, but the site was down for some maintenance reason or something, but here you go. I was actually planning to put up a one-shot for GrayLu Day 1 - Myth yesterday as well, but the damn website was being weird and didn't save any of my work. But I'll post it up some time later as well as Day 2: Tattoo.

Anyway, thanks a bunch for sticking around, and I hope you enjoyed the update!

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.